(2007/05) May 2007 MTB

[jeanyard]

small dreams,
need to pump at 3am to build up stock. like this, I can keep stock until bb is 6mths old but I can stop express when I start work.

mummypoh,
at which age you start the naughty chair? now Cookie still can't follow instructions of staying still yet.
I think cannot afford #3 lah, spore inflation too much.

re: latch on
sometimes I still feel a tinge of guilt for not feeding bb directly but it's the best way for me to "maxmise" my output, more frequent pump than request, then supply will go up.

 

[smalldreams]

Janet

Thanks for the pic. Wow, it's actually a simple yet god idea! But a bit funny right, parents so high up, then got a little person sleeping down there, below the bed..hehe but if it's for safety...

I guess many of us have turned into sardine fishes huh? I'm one of them. Lucky our "can" is a bit bigger - king sized bed. But the occupants are also not that small either..

Jeanyard
Ahh ok, now it makes sense for you to pump - to collect stocks! I think I actually have Sep 07's milk somewhere in the fridge, but I don't dare use liao. Now in my mom's fridge(where my kid is in the day), only left 3 frozen bottles - else he's on enfagrow. So you intend to stop BF-ing when you start work?

Then that'll come the challenge of those heavy boobies, huh! The trials and tribulations of breastfeeding...

 

[bugs]

Janet
went to ntuc extra to check just now the brand is lucky baby, no more sales now same price $139 n last piece only.

lovedogs
i went to see the cushion mattress it's about a size of a cot or slightly bigger only.


mummypoh
did ur gial cried during the 1st few days when u send her to cc?
my niece who is 20th months old started cc this wk she cried very badly.


cooldaughter
ha ha i tried not to change infront of ky cos i dun want to make it a habit.

Jeadyard
dun worry about ur ss cos i remember last time u had lots of milk.

 

[wonder_baby]

wahahaha..we're one of those sardines too. and our 'can' is only queen size. chloe will be in the middle turning and tossing, turning 90 degrees and opening her legs wide

 

[addie]

It's so difficult to train babies to sleep on their own hor! It's only this week that I managed to get my boy to sleep without me carrying him to sleep. But I still gotto stay with him while he toss and turn before falling asleep. Sometimes I even gotto press him down (prevent him from getting up), then he will guai guai sleep. sianz .... I wonder when will be the day will come when I don't even have to stay with him.

BTW, any working mummies here? How much time do you spend with you child on working days? I feel I don't spend enough time with baby but yet bo bian ... gotta work ...

 

[fattynemo]

nellu
yes, my frenz lowered the cot to the lowest. Tats y she say she had a monster!!! hahahaha....

sgn
I went to NTUC xtra juz nw too. Yes, left last pc and price is $139.00. But come to think of it, once bbK cant slp on it liao, it'll take up alot of space cos cant fold up. Hmmmmm......maybe juz get normal mattress and cushion it wif pillows lor.

 

[jjloo]

smalldreams, wonderbaby,
mine is also queen size bed. but only my bb and hubby sleep in the queen size bed, I sleep in another single mattress beside them. so my bb still in a way sleep in between us. I dismantle the bed frame, so we all sleep on the floor.

sgn,
thanks for checking at ntuc extra.

 

[jjloo]

addie,
yes, i also feel that weekdays very little time, at most 2-3 hours before bb sleeps. that is why no matter how tired i am, I will still play with her.
Also I treasure weekend a lot, so I also try to spend as much time with her during the weekend.

 

[nellu]

addie,
yes very difficult. I'm still training my boy. Once he falls asleep, i go out of the room. How long does you boy take to fall asleep, tossing and turning? Mine takes abt 1hr...sometimes longer..

someone advised me to slowly move further and further away from the cot, every 3 -4 days or so, until I'll be finally out of the room. Maybe you can try that too??

 

[ris]

jeanyard, just a gentle reminder, do you know freshly express breastmilk has more live antibodies, and what living cells inside as compared to frozen milk? Some moms just express enough milk for next day's feed, so kid drinks fresher ebm. But ultimate is your decision. And now if you are always with your baby, direct latch and you express another side will also boost your milk supply.

 

[sanrio]

lovedogs,
i nvr shave ash nor cher. ash has quite a lot of hair by abt 8mths old..

mommypoh,
tks. hope 1 day my girl wld hv nice hair like ur girl. i have 2 'vouchers' to brg my kids for photo shoot at coverlook. are they gd, i suppose they wld 'hard sell' me their package??

 

[lovedogs]

sgn,

thanks...if the size is not the adult single at least, i think i wont get it liao... i am thinking to buy 2 single mattresses when i plan to migrate tessa out from her cot now.

jeanyard,

how r u feeling? wow! u are very discipline to wake up every 3 hrs to express... washing, sterilizing and assembling sterilizer drove me nuts i recalled. heeheeh...

janet,

really thanks for posting the pic for us to see...

 

[bugs]

mum@work
oh i went 5.30pm. the queue for payment usu will be long long after 6. u stay amk too?

janet
i just need to buy something so check for u mummies at the same time.

lovedogs
ya it's better to train tess early as she might think that her little brother snatch her cot.

re: sleeping on mattress
mil always stress that sleeping on the floor is the safest, dun need to worry bb fell off the bed n i hate sleeping like sardines cos after that i will have bodyache all over if sleep will my boy he knows kongfu ok!!! ha ha ha.

 

[bugs]

Janet
there's pro n con about off hrs work. i'm also wonder did i made a rite choice by changing to off hrs. cos if i work late i can bath n play with my boy when we wake up. cook n feed him with my porridge. next time only weekends then i can cook for him.

 

[lovedogs]

sgn,

i nvr allow my gal to sleep on the bed with us. We only let her play on the bed wif us everynite before bed. After playing, we will tell her goodnite and bye bye books... then will bring her to her cot. although her cot is in the same room as us, she can't see our bed as my bedroom is 2 bedrooms knocked into 1. Hence, she is at the other side where I have a false partition built the other time as tv console. Therefore, i intend to put 2 mattresses on the floor at her side when #2 arrives. coz during 1st mth, the baby will sleep in another room with the CL. I think i will sleep in my study room coz also dun want to run the risk of waking up tessa if CL knocks at nite to ask me to latch for the first few days. Think i will only move back to my own room to sleep after abt a week when i start to express for CL to feed at nite. My headache now is when CL leaves, I will move tessa to sleep in her own room. I may want to train her to sleep without aircon.... but wonder how to ensure she is not hot? I mean, i can't have the fan blow at her whole nite coz will be too cold. But if fan rotate, she will sure perspire all over.... really headache leh.... then if dun turn on the aircon, do i leave the window open? If that is the case, won't it be very early morning like 7am when the sun shines and the room becomes bright? then she may wake up at 7am so early? now headache loh...

 

[smalldreams]

Janet, addie, sgn

I guess tat's the inevitable challenge of working mothers. I work from home 2 days a week, but for 3 full days, i'm a full-time mother with long working hrs too (till 6.30 or later if i have to do fieldwork). by the time i get back, super tired already but then again after shower, more recharged and would play with baby. More like, entertain him while he toddles around the house.

Sgn you may miss your previous working hrs, but i think office hrs - there'll be more regularity & structure & yr boy may know what to expect as he grows up

Re : training baby to sleep on own.
I think I've failed badly in this area. Baby needs me to sleep - he latches on. Pacifier also he's not so keen. I have a cousin in law whose baby can just fall asleep once she puts him on the bed. I SO ENVY her. He doesnt even need the pacifier! Oh well, some babies are easier to handle in other areas, others, in other area.... (trying to make myself feel better here)

 

[cool_daughter]

addie
My boy is quite a late sleeper, so says if i can leave work at 6pm, i get to spend abt 3-4 hrs wif him b4 he sleeps.

 

[jjloo]

LOVEDOGS,
I think i will have the same headache as you when i plan to have #2. Yesterday feeding #1, I was already thinking about the arrangement for #2. Yes, it will be headache...'sign'

 

[wonder_baby]

smalldreams
i've failed in that area too. my girl also needs to latch to nap and sleep. in the middle of the nite, she will wake up then latch back to sleep a few times .really dunno how to wean her off

 

[routine]

smalldreams
haahaa...our "can" is also king size but the content (me and hubby) are also of the bigger species. So before #2 joined us, we upgraded our "can" to have an extra "utility room" (aka baby cot joined to the bedside) as shown here: http://reichelpoh.blogspot.com/2008/03/homework.html/ It was initially intended for either my #1 or #2 to sleep in but in the end, half of me occupies it now. haa...

janet
#2 joined the sardines straight after my confinement...so was abt 2mth old. Found a photo of them sleeping together. http://reichelpoh.blogspot.com/2007/11/kungfu-babies.html/

sgn
my gal cried too when she was left in cc on her own...even now when I'm send her to cc (usually my hubby does that)..she still cries but more out of "sa jiao". we spent the first few days in sch with her, after which we left her there for a few hrs each day...slowly lengthening the time she had to spend there so that change is more gradual. We didn't want to sneak out of the cc coz it'll only increase her sense of anxiety and insecurity so we usually explain to her that we need to go work and will be back to pick her up later. After a while, she realises that the separation is only temporary and she's more ok with letting us leave (while still crying though). i think her cc teachers were really experienced so that helped too.

jeanyard
i learnt the naughty chair thingy from her cc...so when she was abt 24mth old (N1 class). The cc used it on the 18 mth playgp too.

addie
the length of time after work may be short but the quality of it is more impt. i usually try to play with them after my dinner...do colouring, watch their DVDs, read books etc (all in the short span of 2-3 hrs). Even though my MIL or mom offered to have 1 of them sleep with them instead so that i can rest but i insist having them both with me...sleeping time is also bonding time for us. It may not be much in the eyes of some but to me that's another 8hrs being physically together...

 

[nellu]

smalldreams, wonder baby,
don't see yourselves as failing lah. Just that you are not quite ready to take the step to train baby yet. Takes a lot of courage, patience and perseverance. I think i also cave in a lot of times. I started to try to train Josh to fall asleep on his own for the longest time. Until now, he still needs someone in the room with him to go to sleep.

Initially i could not take it at all. But then later i keep telling myself, "of course, there will be resistance. because we are doing something new and teaching josh a new skill. he'll get it after a while and i must be consistent." when i can tell myself this, i became more persistent, more confident and more patient with him.

smalldreams, your cousin in law might have done something with her baby right from the start, a routine or something, that is probably why her baby can fall asleep in the cot easily. Maybe you can ask her to share with you how she handled baby. I think you won't lose anything by asking other mothers how they handled their babies in various aspects. btw, i would not suggest that you give adam pacifier. I always feel that if you had not started a bad habit, don't start at all if you can help it.

 

[nellu]

wonder baby,
btw if you are interested or keen to find a way to stop the comfort sucking or the suckling to sleep thing, i can suggest that you read this book
"The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley.

The author's youngest son also used to suck to sleep and wakes over 10 times at night. she has a very good and gentle method to train baby to sleep. I'm using her ideas. You can read and try it out.

 

[lovedogs]

mummypoh,

thanks for sharing ur blog

you r very lucky that u have very cute and nice looking kids! both of them are simply adorable! u gal is very very sweet and have an angelic face... heheee... they are abt 16 mths apart? i like the scooters u bought for them... is it battery operated? where did u buy them from?...

 

[routine]

janet, lovedogs
don't worry too much..it'll work out eventually just like I did...all the planning/thinking did give me more security but I still have to do last min adjustment coz the kids didn't behave the way we wish for them to.

ris is right abt the viability of antibodies and gd stuff (all the AA..DHA etc) in fresh BM vs stored ones....hence my determination to latch #2 direct instead of expressing whenever i'm not at work. (#1 was BM bottle-fed all the way). I had to dump 30 over bottles of frozen milk coz was trying to give #2 fresh supply as often as possible so those milk went past their storage livespan.

 

[routine]

Sorry abt the nonfunctional links (had an additional "/"): http://reichelpoh.blogspot.com/2008/03/homework.html

http://reichelpoh.blogspot.com/2007/11/kungfu-babies.html

lovedogs
thank you. all kids are adorable(in the eyes of parents even when they're pesky). yup..they're abt 17mths apart. The motorised bike was a hand-me-down from a relative. We had to buy a new battery. You can get such bikes from ToyRus..kiddy palace etc.

 

[wonder_baby]

nellu
thx..where can i get the book from?

mummypoh
my girl saw a pic of ur boy in your blog then she pointed at his pic and said 'baby'..wahahahah

 

[nellu]

wonder baby,

you can try borders. I got it from there. But you can also try to see if the library has it.

 

[wonder_baby]

nellu
thx

mummypoh
ian looks very tall! how tall is he?

 

[lovedogs]

mummypoh,

yes i agree with you that in the eyes of the parents, their own kids are always adorable and cute no matter what... heehee... but hor, there are some kids are genuinely very adorable! and yours are! i nvr like kids in my life esp asian kids... hahaha...only find ang mo kid adorable. Hence, off course me now as a parent, i love my own child. What I am trying to say is that, i sincerely think that ur kids are adorable

like ang mo kids

 

[nellu]

lovedogs,
i agree totally with what you said. I think asian kids are 1000times more adorable than ang moh kids.

aft spending 2 weeks in France, Josh and I ended up being very drawn to this Chinese girl and her mummy, even though there were many other kids and mummies around (mostly ang mohs!). I also found the girl really really cute...she looks a bit like sanrio's Cher, except she's bigger... The other kids were just bleah, plain boring...and bratty and spoilt!

maybe it's cos of our culture and our values where we emphasize on family, asian kids tend to be more endearing.

 

[jeanyard]

lovedogs,
I took the easy way out last night: after I express, I just put pump and empty bottle back into the fridge (with a plastic bag), unwashed! and use it again before I wash them this morning. The milk supply is really low, didn't know how to increase. hiazzzz.
I find it better for babies to sleep in aircon room (but need to non-oscillate the aircon) as compared to fans cos the temperature is more consistent.
Do you know gender of bb yet?

ris,
yup, know about the living vitamins and stuff but bb refused to latch on anymore cos we didn't try to cup feed (was too tedious and HB not around to support). decided that my sanity was more important. First week I nearly got post natal depression cos the fatigue kicked in really bad.

smalldreams,
yah, building up stocks now so that I don't have to work and pump 3 months later. my work is very stressful and in laws don't help out much at night (they think parents should take over after returning from work but they get to have afternoon naps whilst working class like us, don't!!)

 

[smalldreams]

nellu

You're right. At times I also just turn on deaf ears to his cries - coz if we're doing something new, then there'll be difficulty. But we'll manage somehow. The last time I felt this way was when he resisted bottle teats. Now, sleeping w/o latching.

As for pacifier, I caved in when my mom suggested at about 4-5 mths coz Adam was just having difficulty sleeping - so the suckling was supposed to soothe him. I agreed to pacifier as I didn't want to use Yao-lan / sarong! But luckily Adam doesnt really like the pacifier unless it's bed time. Even then, he would spit it out after some time, phew~

My cousin - she said baby just got used to his own smell at the cot, and after rolling around abit, he's off to wonderland. NO pacifiers, but he sucks his thumb.

Jeanyard
Haha, You know I started doing what you did when my baby was about 7-8 mths. I think it's OK lah as long as the bag is clean. SOmetimes protect until like what also, not good in building antibodies. Whooops..did I say somethng wrong? hehe! Well it must be tiring for ya - whatever it is enjoy yr maternity leave now okie!

Wonder_baby
GIMME ^5!! I think both of us are similar in many ways. My kid also still wakes up to comfort latch. I'm still gathering enuff courage to get hubby to feed water at night when Adam wakes up. But hor, his screams are so shrill even at night - afraid neighbours would wake up!

Mommy Poh
Is yr boy a May 07 baby too? Saw your blog

Btw, the Pasir Ris pond you went to, is it anywhere nearby the place where they've got pony rides? Thinking of going there this weekend

cool daughter
yr boy sleeps at what time? Mine usually sleepy by 10. but sometimes till 11 !! Sometimes feel bad - tired and body begging for sleep but this little tot still walking around and wanting to play.

 

[wonder_baby]

smalldreams
i've tried feeding water..doesnt work..wahahahahaha..i'm taking the easy way out by letting her latch so that i can go bck to sleep

 

[cool_daughter]

smalldreams
ard there .. abt 10.30pm usually if we off all the lights. If we dun, like in wkends, he can stay awake till abt 12am

Btw, i heard pacifier is better than thumb coz u can at least throw away the pacifier .. hehe

 

[addie]

Nellu,

My boy takes about an hour too to fall asleep. But if I press him down and don't let him get up, he may fall asleep faster. But then, this method doesn't work most of the time. He will scream ...


Haven't been following this thread since I gave birth in May 07. Saw those postings about pumping milk. Is it the May07 mummies are still breastfeeding (kudos!!! I stop at 8 months.)? Or you have another new baby (kudos too!!!)??

 

[sanrio]

mummupoh,
can i add ur blog to mine?

 

[routine]

sanrio
no problem. can i have yours too?

like what cool_daughter said...it's easier to wean off pacifier as compared to thumb....choose the lesser evil...my kids don't use them unless bedtime.

smalldreams
yes he's a May baby...I'm not too familar with the Pasir Ris fishing pond surroundings but I recall driving pass a sign that indicate pony rides...word of advice: Bring mosquito repellant...plenty of them there.

lovedogs
thank you..now just hope that chickenpox doesn't have a permanent effect on her and my boy don't catch it either.

wonderbaby
your gal same age as my #2? else must be looking at those earlier pictures...coz he's no longer baby size (I miss those days)...I didn't measure him but he's abt a head shorter than my girl who's abt 90plus cm.

now that i've stopped BF, milk making became daddy's duty...and I trained the kids to ask him for it instead...keke. so now he's the one waking up to make milk at 5am.

 

[bugs]

lovedogs
i always blow the fan direct at ky too cos if not he will sweat like bathing, whole head wet. i dun care as long as he can sleep in comfort. i bought a fan with controller n 3 speed if very windy i will use low speed. to keep he out of flu always wear long pants at nite.

Janet
r u preg again?

mummypoh
i feel bad if i bring my boy to cc n he cry like that. now even if i bring him to nanny's place must 'run' when he was distracted by nanny if not he will ask for me.

 

[wonder_baby]

mummypoh
my girl is a may 07 baby too. she was looking at ian in his stroller. he looks tall.

 

[dylanmummy2003]

<font color="aa00aa"><font size="+2"><blink>Ralph Spree</blink></font></font>
<font color="0000ff">Mummies who are interested, please pm me with the following :

Ralph Lauren
Item Name :
Item code :
Item URL :
Color :
Size :
Qty :

Total : US$** x 1.40 = S$**

Order capped @US$200, i think there will be free domestic shipping, international shipping (US to SG) will be shared among mummies by unit, as per previous spree. This spree is purely for May 2007 mummies only.

Order will closed once hit US$.
Will email all mummies my account number to TT after I consolidate all orders, and will email to that kind mummy who will be helping us to place order.</font>

 

[zhuzhu]

anyone know where to get those squeaky shoes har? Saw there is a BP on it..duno if the price is expensive o not?

 

[fattynemo]

zhuzhu
I got the squeaky shoes wif open toes frm United Sq. I bought at $10.90 but of cos the pattern not as nice as the BP. Cant rem the shop name, however the shop sells children towels, bowls/plates and shoes etc. Mkt oso sell, price abt $5.90-$7.90 but pattern not nice at all, very ltd varieties.

 

[zhuzhu]

mum@work
I don't intend to buy that expensive shoe for bb..since they always out grown very fast..duno if Bata had those shoes o not..

 

[fattynemo]

zhuzhu
bata hv but the sizes are bigger. Donno iszit cos my gal's feet are small.

 

[bugs]

mum@work, zhuzhu
my friends adviced to have good surport shoes for bb when they are learning to walk. esp their very 1st pair of shoes must have good back surport.

 

[nellu]

sgn,
re shoes
which brand is recommended? I want to get for Josh as well but not sure...

 

[routine]

sgn
i think mommy is a "confused" entity...we feel guilty if they cry when we leave them at cc or nanny's but if they don't cry, we also feel upset that they're not so attached to us. Hence I rather they cry when I leave...at least I know we still mean the world to each other...it's just those bitter sweet feelings.

wonderbaby
girls are more advanced in their verbal development...at least ur girl can say baby...my boy still googoo gaga-ing...the only thing that's clear is "mum mum" (food..not me) and ah ma(my MIL taking care of him..hence).

 

[routine]

nellu
my #1 loved her Pigeon shoes...I bought 3 pairs during one of those Takashimaya Baby Fair($25.90). Too bad their biggest is only size 15..else wld get her another bigger pair for now. They're selling at $50 plus now...a bit of ex but can let #2 wear..they're broad and very durable (my FIL washed them umpteen times and the shoes still looks good).

http://pigeon.info/syouhin/new/babyshoes_new/index.htm


I've tried Combi (bought during Isetan Private Sale abt $15.90)..also not bad.

http://www.taising.com/combishoe.html

 

[nellu]

mommypoh,
thanks for the info. They are quite expensive. My boy outgrows his clothes at a super alarming rate. I worry if i get shoes like these for him it'll really be quite a waste of money.

 

[bugs]

nellu
both my friend recommended clarks.